The reaction in Minnesota

Tuesday, 30 June 2015 15:27
Harry Colbert, Jr.

Nine souls have been laid to rest as the nation still grapples with the many issues and questions surrounding the June 17 massacre inside the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in South Carolina.

Even as the flowers fade, the hurt and pain of the atrocities that occurred here in Charleston, SC on that bloody June Wednesday is very much alive. It is joined with the mixed emotions of those visiting the Mother Emanuel AME Church, which has now become a living monument and shrine of flowers, prayers, the American flag, poems, inspirational sayings, peace signs, signature boards, teddy bears, and candles to name a few of the mementos left in front of this historic church. Historic because Mother Emanuel was once ordered burned to the ground by the City of Charleston that now sends out its men in blue to protect it. How ironic. What would Denmark Vesey say?

Supreme Court preserves Health Insurance Marketplaces

Thursday, 25 June 2015 14:17

Today, the United States Supreme Court announced its decision upholding the tax subsidies provided to help low and middle income people purchase individual health insurance plans through a federal exchange, or health insurance marketplace, provided for in the Affordable Care Act. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion in the 6-to-3 decision.

Support grows for taking down confederate flag

Tuesday, 23 June 2015 15:40
George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – In what is quickly and unexpectedly gaining ground as a fitting memorial to the nine African Americans killed by a White supremacist at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., some of the most ardent defendants of the confederate flag are reversing course and saying for the first time that the flag should no longer fly over the Capitol in South Carolina.

NEWS ANALYSIS: Obama becoming more outspoken on race

Tuesday, 23 June 2015 15:37
George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – When President Obama returns to Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. Friday to eulogize Rev. Clementa Pinckney, it will cap a period in which he has become increasingly outspoken on race, even uttering the N-word to make a point about the slow pace of progress in race relations.

1.3 million elementary school students don't have access to music classes

Monday, 22 June 2015 15:47

Experts say African American and Latino students do better in school, have higher graduation rates and a better chance of getting into college when exposed to music education on an ongoing basis in K1- 12.

A Neighborhood with Promise

Monday, 22 June 2015 15:41
Mayor Betsy Hodges and Rep. Ellison

When city planners drew a Minneapolis map in 1935, North and Near-North neighborhoods were marked as "Negro" sections and Sumner-Glenwood was given the title of "Negro Slum (Largest in City)." These distinctions led to a generation of discrimination and disinvestment. Ignored by local government, black residents were systematically denied access to financial assistance granted to their white neighbors. For example, Federal Housing Administration mortgages were only available to white families and communities until the Civil Rights era. Businesses paid black workers less than their white colleagues.